turnabout is fairplay
by nataliexkathryne
Summary: emmett reflects upon his past while watching edward with bella. slightly AU


**a/n: **i'll warn you in advance, this is my first twilight story and it isn't particulary well written. however the plot is sort of interesting so enjoy it if you can :

let me know what you thought of it.

* * *

I've always tried to be as truthful as possible when dealing with my brother, it is only natural to do so, the thing about edward is.. you really couldn't lie to him even if you were to try. so i am purposely candid with my brother, with all of my siblings for that matter. i have very little problem with answering any and all of their questions in the most ernest manner but this is especially true in regard to edward. it is a deal between the two of us, unspoken as it may be, he stays out of my head and lets me keep the finer details of my personal life entirely private (more for rose's benefit then my own) and i let him know what is on my mind when ever he may ask, as truthfully as i can possibly be. for the better part or seventy years the silent treaty has not once been broken... however i must admit to taking advantage of the arrangement just once.

* * *

_"you don't understand!" exclaimed the physically youngest, yet technical middle brother. his voice strained with the effort it took to communicate the agony he was in over his current situation. "jasper, she's entirely intoxicating. every part of her screams for my attention.. i can't just ignore it!"_

_i looked in at edward and jasper from the hallway, the latter of the two trying in vain to calm the pathetically discomposed vampire infront of him._

_"edward, she's just another human." jasper sighed "they're all the same" _

_"i know there is little variety in human blood jasper!" edward now had his arms thrown in the air, exasperation evident on his face "but it's like she's another species. her scent is more perfect then anything i have ever experienced before, you have to understand.. you're so much older then me, haven't you ever experienced anything like this?" _

_my shoulder's slumped, finally getting the gist of what they were talking about.. so edward had found his had he? my mind filled with images of crimson hair and playful eyes, my senses were over taken by that intoxicating presence. it was more then a mere scent, it was all encompassing, filling every ovarice invading the air around me. but as fast as the feelings came i pushed them aside. this wasn't something i could thin kabotu anymore._

_jasper shook his head lamely, and in doing so noticed me out of the corner of his eye. "Emmett, come in here for a minute." _

_edwards eyes lit up. obviously he saw in me another test of his sanity, hoping beyond hope that i would have the answers he was looking for. i was strange seeing edward this way. calm, collected edward. he had lived so much longer then i had, and seemed to have a perfect understanding of everything that went on around him, i'm sure nothing had shocked him in almost a century. was it really any wonder he was so panicked now? he had never before been at such risk of breaking his oath to carlisle, his dedication to our cause... and he couldn't even answer as to why._

_"Emmett" he was shockingly enthusiastic when beakoning me over. i felt my stomach drop. "please tell me, were you listening to jasper and i for long?"_

_i nodded._

_"did you hear the whole conversation._

_again, i nodded._

_"can you tell me what is going on?!"_

_moment of truth. for the last time i nodded._

_i told him everything i knew, everything carlisle had told me, everything there was to tell about la tua cantante._

_"twice?" he asked, encredulous, amazed that such an experience could ever be repeated? "twice" i confirmed_

_"how did it end?" he was urgent now, his moods swinging backwards and forwards, poor jasper looked dizzy. "you left right? no foul?"_

_i shook my head sadly. "no, edward. i killed them."_

_"both of them?" he asked, trying desperately to hold onto hope._

_"..yes" i muttered, choosing this moment to take advantage of our little contract "both of them"._

at this point i had nothing to be affraid of. edward was confused and infuriated, perhaps a little obsessed, but in no way attached to this human. she would be like the first one, he would hold out for a while, but eventually fold like all of us do. it would be a quick kill, finished and forgotten. a stain on is record perhaps, but his record wasn't exactly spotless to begin with.

i watched edward with this new girl the next day. he was wary of her, watching her every movement, careful that he stood down wind to her keeping her scent to the minimum. it was a wonderous sight.

even so far apart they seemed to move in perfect sequence with eachother. intentional of edwards part or otherwise, there was no earthly reason for this Isabella Swan to start playing along with his carefully set boundries, the two of them moved like gravity, constantly realigning and dancing in endless circles, i swear by heart skipped a beat. all hope that she would be like the first vanished.

* * *

_"who are you?" she asked. no fear, only curiosity more befitting a child then this young woman before me. "what are you to me?"_

"what the hell were you thinking edward!?" rose shouted, completely unnecessarily i might add, across the living room. "what on earth posessed you to save her?" edward was currently sitting cross legged on one of our more comfortable sofa's he looked contemplative, but in no way remorseful.

"she saw" he muttered, too low even for our ears to pick up properly "how could she have seen?"

"are you even listening edward?!" he looked up at his sister his eyes questioning.

"pardon?"

rose growled "you haven't heard a singl--" i placed my hand over her shoulder, the action enough to cut her sentence short. "emmett?"

"come on rosie. i can think of better ways to waste the afternoon" before she could protest i lifted her into my arms and ran up the length of the staircase, hurrying to our room. before he disappeared out of sight i spared a glance for my brother, his eyes still clouded over with confusion, but a light smile playing about his mouth.

* * *

_"you were following me yesterday, and the day before that" she stated. completely oblivious to how terrifying that fact should be to her. and you were the one in the Trans Am the other night aswell. you cut off the motorbike before it hit me." there was no question in her voice. everything was fact. i'd been doing everything in my power to make myself invisible to her but she noticed me everytime, effectively stopping the quick and easy kill i'd been going for. was there any possibility she might be just as aware of me as i am of her?_

_"you don't have to tell me why" she smiled "but don't sneak around next time, you can say hello. i don't bite" _

_i had to chuckle at her choice of phrase, and she laughed aswell, and though i'm in no way positive that she understood the joke, part of me hopes she got it._

he held her close to his side as we continued our game. our movements mechanical now, simply going through the motions until the others arrived. bella was breathing very slowly and quitely, she was tucked under edwards arm and obviously trying to make herself as small as possible. sadly it was in vain. we could smell her a mile away... she was so clearly human. edwards mouth was wandering close to her neck, and i wondered if he was considering it, taking easiest available option in saving her.

the air around us became very still and we all looked to the south as the trees started to sway, heralding the arrival of our visitors.

* * *

_"what are you going to do to me?" she asked finally, the faintest note of unease in her voice, but none of the fear i'd been waiting for. three more men turned the corner and ran with her in my arms, she held onto the collar of my shirt with shocking strenght as i sprinted away from her assailents. i may have been running at in-human pace but by vampire standards i was nothing special and they were gaining on us. i could think of only one option, and i wasn't sure if i could go through with it._

_"you have to trust me" i muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. "this is going to be pretty painful" i admitted "but it's all i can do for you" i lifted for body a little higher, giving myself better access to the softer flesh of her neck. "i'm sorry."_

_"emmett, what are you--" she was cut of as i sank my teeth into her skin, her eyes immediately glazed over but to her credit she knew better then to scream"_

_"listen to me. i can't fix the pain, but i promise it won't last. i'll carry you a little longer and once i say it's safe i'm going to have to drop you. you'll be in no danger. and i'm sure eventually we'll see each other again." i looked down at her tiny frame. tears were now flowing freely down her cheeks, but her face was set in a state of fixed determination and her mouth of clamped shut. i pulled her into my body preforming any small gester i could to ease her suffering._

_by morning her scent was fading rapidly, being over taken by the sickeningly sweet aroma of our kind. we were still being followed but i was confident that any real danger had passed. i found a vacant alley on the out skirts of whatever city is was that we had landed in and started taking her clothes of of her body. hoping that they carried enough of her scent to confuse the trackers into believing she was still with me. in turn i adorned her with my own shirt and took of once more. my arms now empty but for the odd arrangement of garments she had been wearing the night before. _

i sat with my arms wound tight around bella, perventing any possible escape. edwards was giving orders in the calmest fashion he could manage, making plans to keep us all safe, but his human would have nothing of it. any conception i'd ever had of her was blown away in the few moments we spent in the jeep. she was stead-fast and stubborn and refused to have anything done to her unless it was under her own terms. she submitted her own plans, well thought out plausable plans and if she was insulted by the suprise in my voice then she did well not to show it.

for a moment i thought she might be saved our fate, but it was inevitable. she was his singer, all that awaited her now was death, the question was what interpretation of death this story would end in.

* * *

_i looked back at the alley fleetingly, wondering how long her transformation would take from this point, wondering if she would hate me for what i'd done when she wook up, wondering if she'd remember me at all. but most of all wondering if there might not have been another way._

edward carried her out of the dance studio not even a full day later. and i was shocked to hear her pulse as steady as ever. she was neither dying nor transforming. my heart lightened a little and i smirked at my brother has he shifted her in his arms. he did not spare a glance at me, but instead looked directly at his human's face, a strange mixture of agony and pride playing about his features a perfect reflection of the emotions runny through my head.

my brother had found the other option, he had saved her life... not just her existance.

but this meant that there story was not yet over, and much greater tragedy would have to befall the couple (for they were a couple now) before the final choice would be made.

* * *

_i returned home to rose that afternoon and shared not a word of what had happened. happily it didn't occur to her to question my whereabouts. i wouldn't have given an answer if she did. that story was over now, i didn't need to add to it. _

Watching Edward and Bella now i wondered how i might have confused their situation with my own long past. i stared forlornly between the two of them before heaving a great sigh and leaving the room. perhaps i'd find my rose, surely she could occupy my mind for a few hours. as their voices faded i allowed myself one last vision of the girl i saved so few decades ago, the one i had told not a soul about. my singer, so similar and yet so fundamentally different to the vivacious girl sitting only two storeys below my feet. their story was never going to be my story and it was foolish of me to think so.

fleetingly i wondered where she was now, before shaking my head viciously and entering my room. finally closing that chapter of my life.

_END_


End file.
